The No. 20 ranked Emory University men's basketball team never trailed in its 78-65 wire-to-wire victory Friday night against Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts.
Sophomore Jair Knight led three Eagles in double figures as the Eagles kept pace in the UAA race, improving to 3-3 in conference play and 12-5 overall. Knight finished with 20 points, his fourth game in UAA action with 20 or more points. Junior Cale Martens had his highest scoring performance since December 29th with 18 points and classmate Logan Shanahan recorded his second double-double in the last three games, posting 14 points and 12 rebounds while collecting a game-high three blocks. The Judges' Gilbert Otoo finished with 21 points to lead both teams.
The Eagles started out quick, scoring the game's first seven points, forcing Brandeis to call a timeout within the opening two minutes. From there, Emory's lead swelled to as many as 16 with a 29-13 advantage with 5:38 left to play in the half.
The Judges brought the deficit to within six, going on a 10-0 run, as the Eagles went cold for four minutes. Shanahan ended the run with a low-post basket before sophomore Ben Pearce drained a three to give Emory the 34-23 halftime lead. Pearce would finish the contest with eight points and a team-best four assists.
Brandeis cut the margin to single digits with a 7-4 run to start the second half but another bucket from Shanahan put the Eagles ahead again by 10 at 40-30 with 17:45 to play. Shanahan's basket started a 10-2 Emory run to match the Eagles' largest lead of the game to that point, leading 48-32 at the 14:21 mark. The Eagles would not see their lead dip below 10 points for the rest of the evening.
Brandeis came within 10 points one more time at 53-43 with a brief 5-0 burst but the Eagles answered with baskets from Martens and Knight. Another Knight basket at the 8:01 mark gave Emory its largest lead of the half at 64-47 and would see the margin grow to as many as 23 points before landing on the 78-65 final score.
The Eagles shot 44.1%, going 30-for-68 from the floor, and were 8-for-30 from long range. The Judges finished 23-for-68 in field goals and 7-for-29 from beyond the arc. Emory earned the win on the glass 44-41 and forced 11 turnovers.
Emory concludes its northeast road trip on Sunday with a meeting against the No. 13 ranked NYU Violets. Tip-off from Manhattan is set for 12:00 PM.